A Witches Tale
by Himawari96
Summary: 1'000 years ago, the powerful eld witch was sealed away by the mystical alice. 1'000 years later, liddell, a young witch in training accidentally releases her and vows to rescue the kingdoms that she has selfishly corrupted. "the barrier between dreams and reality is paper thin"
1. Chapter 1

Hello all! This is the story of a witches tale, basically the whole game from head to toe in story form. Someone else attempted it but didn't get very far, only two chapters. I played the game again after finding it in a dusty old makeup box in my closet and i forgot how lovely the story is, even if the gameplay is a bit frustrating. I encourage you all to play the game, its for the ds or you can download the rom on your phone.

Disclaimer: i don't own the plot of a witches tale or the characters. Enjoy!

...

Once upon a time, over 1,000 years ago,

A tribe of powerful witches lived beneath our world,

These ancient witches created runes

From the dark powers of the underworld,

And this rune magic was potent, but incredibly dangerous.

In time, the witches grew jealous of the surface world,

For their world was full of darkness and decay.

The surface world was lush and beautiful,

So the witches invaded the land.

They used their rune magic to wreak awful damage.

The surface people had no defence against such power,

But when all seemed lost, the mystical Alice appeared.

She was able to use the rune magic against the witches, and sealed them away for good.

The powerful Eld Witch was sealed as well,

Rumor has it that she resides deep within the earth,

Silently waiting for her revenge.

Only Alice knows where the ancient magic is hidden.

As time went by, the surface world was restored, and everyone forgot about the forbidden magic.

Now it is a legend that lives only in books and quiet

whispers...

...

The sound of old and worn out paper creaking filled the air as I folded the top of the page to save my spot. A devilish smile played across my soft lips, grinning from ear to ear as various thoughts filled my head. Sharp purple eyes scanned the words written across the dusty pages of the book I held one last time before closing it completely. It was hard to find this particular book, having climbed and search the endless rows of boring books in the library for days, but tonight I was lucky. I just had to search the top rows where the books weren't as disturbed. Judging from the dust, it hasn't been read for decays.

Pursing my lips in satisfaction, I got up from the wooden chair I sat on, brushing my blonde bangs to slide them behind my ear as I did so. I didn't know how long I took reading this dusty old book in my schools library, but I didn't care. I wasn't going to class anyway. Snickering at the thought of getting in trouble again, I was about to step towards the ladder of the shelves with book in hand when the door to the room opened without warning. I jumped, startled and trying to hide the book behind me. If it was a teacher she would surely take the book from me. But it wasn't a teacher...it was Kitty, my overly innocent cat friend. I say cat because she has cat ears and cat eyes with the thin pupil and everything. She frowned at the sight of me and her lips curled down in slight judgment.

"Liddell...aren't you going to class today?" She asked in a soft and delicate voice. It was cute...sometimes I envied her for that ability. It seemed like she was out looking for me, like always.

"Nope! Class is stupid, the magic they teach us is for babies!" I retorted with a stubborn pout.

Her yellow eyes narrowed in disapproval. "You can't just skip class whenever you want!" She scolded. She was so fussy and whiny about class all the time, it was sometimes annoying but it only meant that she cared.

"I'm not going, plus our classmates suck! All they care about is pop stars and fashion." I said with distaste. It was true, I felt alienated because of that, nobody wanted to learn the real thing or to go beyond that. Kitty was different though, she was smart and quiet by nature, the perfect yang to my loud and reckless personality.

The brown cat ears of my friend flattened as she cocked her head to the side, letting her short brown hair dangle on her shoulders as she spoke. "So what, you don't need school at all?"

I shook my head with a smile, blonde pigtails swung with the movement. "Nope! School is lame, you know what's really hot?" I spoke with glee and excitement. "Forbidden magic!"

"Forbidden magic?" Kitty's eyes widened in curiosity.

"Yes! Some spell from 1,000 years ago! I kept reading about how powerful and destructive it is! If I could get my hands on something like that...I could become even greater than queen Alice herself!" I exclaimed excitedly.

"Um, who?" Kitty asked confused.

"And then just maybe..." I went on, my voice toning down to a quiet whisper.

"Liddell?" Kitty stared at me as if I was nuts.

"What? Stop looking dumb!" I exclaimed with a grin, trying to hide my sadness from moments before.

Kitty blinked, and rolled her eyes. "Well how are you going to find a 1,000 year old spell anyway?" She asked, changing the subject as she clutched the hem of her dark blue dress.

"Oh you know...look around I guess." I replied uncertainly. She was right, how WAS I going to find it? Dig until I was too tired to move? The thought made me cringe.

"So in other words...you have no idea, sounds about right." Kitty muttered, then smiled. "But I might know something about it." She finished.

Violet eyes gleamed with interest. "Oh? Well come on! Out with it!" I pushed. She had my full attention now.

"I don't know if it's the same...but there's an old castle that supposedly hides an ancient magic, I heard my grandpa and Babayaga talking about it once." Kitty spoke out softly.

I grinned deviously. "Yeah, sounds like a real winner!"

Kitty's eye's widened and she stepped back. "Whoa what's with that smile? You look...totally evil."

"I'm going to that castle!" I exclaimed. "Oh, and can you put this back for me? Thanks!" I tossed her the leather book I was reading and she caught it with a small grunt. Before she could protest, I dashed quickly towards the door, blonde pigtails and dark purple skirt brushing against the air as I slid out. Black heels clicked against the floor as I hurried out the main entrance of the school. If I didn't I was sure to be caught.

Once outside, I breathed the cold night air of sweet freedom. Clad in a single dark purple spandex tube top and a skirt with only long leather gloves and stockings for cover up, I should have been cold. But the night was promising and the wind was merciful, giving only slight goosebumps as it brushed against my bare skin. I twirled my orange umbrella over me as I made my way down the bridge to the gates.

"If I could just ask Babayaga about that castle...her house should be ummm." I paused outside the gates. Where did the old witch live again? I thought for a moment, frowning in concentration. I haven't been to her place in quite a while.

"Young lady are you lost?" I looked up over the fence to see a lit pumpkin lantern. There were many of those talking things around at night to keep the place in light.

"I'm looking for Babayaga." I explained with a sigh, squinting at it's luminosity. My eyes didn't fancy making direct contact with light.

"Oh, she's west of here, just keep going until you spot an old tree." The lantern spoke out helpfully. "She's been doing strange things lately..."

I smirked at it. "It seems the old hag is keeping fit, thanks!" I shouted, turning my head downwards, happy for my eyes to finally be saved from its lit clutches.

I walked onwards to the wooden bridge that hoovered over the green lake under me, creaking under my weight. I could barely contain myself from running. Recently I had been so bored, but now that I had this information about the hidden magic I was on fire!

"Hey Liddell, why aren't you in school?" A voice rang out. I stopped dead in my tracks at the sound, and looks up. It was the same pumpkin that always talked to me every time I passed through here.

Nevertheless, I always made sure to talk back. "Ditched it!" I said happily, sticking a pink tongue out at him.

Its lit eyes stared down at me, confused. "Ehh...Why do you sound so proud? Do you have better things to do other than school? I suppose that's good...in a way."

"Yup!" I chirped, dancing around him and sending my pigtails flying with the action. "I'm off to a great adventure! See ya!" I waved as I continued walking down.

Now that I was past the bridge, I came across a graveyard. "Spooky." I muttered with mischief. Although it wasn't my first time venturing through these parts, it never ceased to excite me. I just loved a thrill. It was definitely better than school.

Snickering to myself, I got past the graves and made my way towards another wooden bridge, but this time the water was purple. I hurried across it, spotting the shrine not too far away, making stomping noises with my heels as I did so.

When I finally got there, I stopped to close my umbrella and smoothed out my hair.I knocked three times before I let myself in. Years of experience has taught me not to wait for the old bag to open the door. I would turn into a skeleton waiting there If I did. The sudden warmth of the rooms temperature made me relax as I looked around. Old dusty books and potions lined the wooden shelves. Old spell utensils and candles decorated the place in front of a large cauldron pot oozing with a mysterious Liquid. Babayaga sat at the end of it. Old with white hair and yellow eyes, the woman was way past her prime, but she was knowledgeable.

I grinned and shouted. "Hey Babayaga! You kick the bucket yet?!"

She jumped up in surprise, looking up from her cauldron. It made me smile. I knew that would wake her up. "Huuhhh? Oh Liddell...My bucket is just fine thank you." She said with a snicker of her own, yellow eyes flashing. Her voice was husky and raw, it matched her age well.

I flipped my umbrella back. It was better to cut to the chase instead of making small talk. Just knowing Babayaga, I knew she could go on and on about anything with the slightest provocation. So before she could say anything else, I quickly added, "So what do you know about an old mysterious castle with strong magic?"

The old woman flinched, wide eyed and mouth agape. "Whaaat?! That's crazy! You're crazy! Ahhh! Ow ow uugh ouch!" She bent down and pressed her wrinkly hand over her mouth dramatically. "My ulcers are acting up! I need sleep..." she protested. I frowned. Clearly she was hiding something and acting like that to change the subject.

"Hey! Stop embarrassing yourself and tell me! Tell me tell me tell me!" I insisted loudly. If I repeated myself long enough, I was sure she would get annoyed and give in.

I was right, her nose wrinkled and she straightened up. "Ok ok!" She hissed. "But listen." She breathed out ominously. "There's a dangerous vampire living in that castle, A nasty vile thing! He'll kill you dead! No lie."

"Ppfft!" I could barely contain my laughter. "You think a vampire is going to scare me?" I stated confidently. She had to try harder than that. "What a joke." As if vampires were real...

"No no, i'm sure it won't, its just a fair warning." The old hag said with a grin.

"Whatever." I scoffed, tapping my foot on the floor.

Babayaga grinned, suddenly looking strange. "Well, this would be good to learn a good life lesson." She said seriously. Her tone was no longer friendly, and it made me take a step back.

"What do you mean?" I asked uncertainly. What was with the old hag? Before I knew how to react, the floor under me started to morph and crumble. I grew confused, then dizzy. I couldn't keep my balance and my knees caved in as I fell and fell into darkness and oblivion.

...

Thats it for ch.1, reviews would be welcome!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

I awoke to the feeling of hard, cold stone beneath me, making my back stiff and achy. Groaning, I sat up slowly, wrapping my arms around my thin frame. Vertigo hit me like a ton of bricks and I had to clutch my head with a wince. I didn't know where I was...but somehow, I had ended up in a dark cold room. It was a big room, I could tell from the slight echoing that my shifting body sent. The unpleasant smells of rust and dusty wood filled my nostrils as I slowly waited for my eyes to adjust to the lack of light.

Lowering my gloved hands, I pulled myself up and picked my umbrella up. "Hello?" I called out. Somehow, my voice sounded different, almost raspy but that might have been due to my dry throat. I needed water soon. As the echo subsided, I walked a few paces ahead, examining my surroundings. Where was I anyway? I couldn't seem to remember my past events, just that I went to Babayaga in search of a magic. Stopping short, I gasped loudly and hit my fist into the palm of my hand.

"That's right! I must be in that castle!" I said to myself loudly. The old witch probably transported me straight to here. Was it really that easy? This all seemed too good to be true.

Only one way to find out. Platform heels clicked against the stone floor as I wandered around the room. Rows and rows of dusty old weapons and torture tools lined the walls as I strode by. Axes, knives, and other torture weaponry filled the tables as I slid a finger along the dust, creating a heart shape.

"Someone has been neglecting their toys." I muttered to myself as my eyes landed on a dusty black ball hiding behind a nail puller. Not that I was afraid of them, they actually looked pretty cool.

Eyeing the ball once again, curiosity got the best of me and I leaned over with an outstretched hand to grab it. Patting it to remove the dust, I twirled it around and gasped. It was a bomb. Would it come in handy. Well, it was better than being unarmed. I did recall Babayaga mentioning a nasty vampire living here.

"Pfft, that's a lie though...I think." Blonde brows rose up as I contemplated the possibility. No way! Nothing was going to stop me from getting that magic! I just had to find it and leave, easy peasy.

Holding the bomb under my arm, I walked to the end of the room and came across the door. It was wooden and rusty to the touch, no surprise there, the vampire needed some cleaning tips, or a maid I thought with a snicker. However, it opened easily and I was able to slip through.

Closing the door behind me quietly, dim moonlight washed over my face as I squinted around. I was in a hallway, the same stone material decorated the place and huge gaping windows let in the moonlight, giving the hallway a ghostly glow. It seemed perfect for a horror comic. What I noticed most of all was that the place was clean, save for a few cobwebs gracing the walls. A red carpet was also strewn out reaching all the way down the hallway. The kind that pop stars walked on while the masses cheered and screeched.

The sound of boots clashing against stone echoed throughout the room as I rushed to a window to peek outside. There was nothing but dead black trees decorating the outside of the place, and it was a long way down. I couldn't see anything familiar even at this distance. For a moment, I worried about how I would get back to my school, I didn't even know where I was, but surely I would find a way. Once I had the magic I was invincible.

With that in mind, I backed away from the window and walked forward, following the carpet smoothly. There was another large wooden door with metal decorating it. It was those types that you would see in old movies. This was was also a lot cleaner and polished than the one back at the torture room. Pushing it with a grunt, it cringed as it swung open.

"Whoa." I muttered blatantly. The strong smell of rose petals and honey struck my nose so suddenly, it surprised me. This room literally smelled like perfume. I stepped forward, mesmerized at the pretty candles decorating the middle piece parting two stone stairs. Dim light flickered across the walls as I climbed the right side, heels clicking against the floor. There were candles all around the sides of the room, and once I reached the top, I knew why.

Dozens of roses floated on the double fountains of each wall that lay in one big oval shape. I walked over to the side to look down at the water. It was clear and clean, smelling like rose and flowers. I was tempted to drink it.

"Well this is odd." I mumbled softly to myself. These roses were fresh, save for a few dead petals gracing the floor, it meant that someone was keeping this room nicely decorated. Someone with a good sense of smell. Leaning back up, I let out a whiff and turned back around. There was an object in the middle of the room, and moonlight shone on it like it was gods shoe or something. It raised my interest and I just had to check it out.

"Oh." That came out a little louder than expected and the word echoed throughout the room, bouncing back and forth, sounding like mimicing ghosts. Now that I was closer, I could see it was a coffin. A black and shiny one with a steel cross plastered in the middle. It was rather fancy.

I wanted to try it, just for kicks, so I set my umbrella between my legs and planted both gloved hands against the top frame. To my surprise, it slid off easily, I had expected it to be heavy...but what surprised me even more was the figure that lay before me, making me jump for a second.

For a moment, I thought it was a dead guy...thinking it was bad luck to find that the coffin wasn't empty. But a closer look told me it wasn't. The boy that lay there was much too clean and fresh to be dead. Long silver hair fell against his face beautifully, bangs covering one eye. Pale skin matched the bright silver moonlight that blanketed his body. Long eyelashes swept down as he slept. He was also dressed in some sort of black cape with a white button shirt underneath. A single red ribbon lay limply as a tie, and I noticed the red rose resting on the left side of his chest. His hands were clasped together like a student in a classroom, in front of his lower stomach. I couldn't stop staring, he looked so...so...what? I blinked a thought to myself. Kinda cute? Yeah in a bloodsucking sort of way, that must have been the vampire Babayaga was talking about.

But hell...there was nothing nasty or or evil looking about him. Even his nose and lips looked better than mine, it made me scowl with slight envy. I wondered how long he had been living here...he looked about 18 years old or so, but why was he even here?

A devious thought crossed my mind as I watched him sleep. "I want to draw all over his face." I muttered. The temptation was real, I would have brought a marker if I knew I was going to encounter him sleeping. Snapping my fingers in his face, I waited for a reaction. Nothing. The guy looked like he was dead rather than asleep. Chuckling, I got up and picked my umbrella off the floor. If he was here that must mean he was supposed to be guarding the magic...which means its somewhere here.

Purple eyes scanned the room and landed on the hard cracked stone at the end of the room. There, that looked so suspicious. Grinning from ear to ear, I practically floated towards the wall from my excitement. It just had to be here. But there was one slight problem, the wall was cracked yes, but I couldn't break it with my bare hands. What to do...violet eyes widened and I looked down at my hands. The bomb! I could use it to break the wall...but where did I put it.

Mentally kicking myself for misplacing it, I looked around wildly. There, it was resting by the candles over the fountain. I must have placed it there when I looked down at the water. Rushing to it, I grabbed the bomb and straightened the wick. Good thing there were plenty of lit candles around. Shoving the wick into a candle, I slightly jumped as it burned quickly, making a hissing sound. I had to hurry or the thing would blow me to bits. Running quickly towards the wall again, I placed it under it, and ran for cover.

Heels skidded to a halt as a loud BOOM filled my ears. Smoke engulfed me completely and pieces of charred debris and stone flew everywhere. It was a shame really, because I felt like I disrupted the piece and tranquility that made this room pretty, but I couldn't think about that now. I had to get the magic.

I hurried inside the gaping hole that the bomb left, thinking I might have heard a shout, but it must have been in my mind. Shaking it off, I stumbled into the dark dusty room that reeked of decay and moss. This room had also been neglected apparently. There were old cobwebs and dried mystery liquid adorning the walls.

Coughing a bit, I squinted over the remaining bits of smoke and saw a small stone shrine holding a book that looked about as old as this room. Curious, I stepped over to it, blonde locks bouncing slightly with each step. The book had peeled off edges, most likely water damage, and was covered in layers of dust. This must have been it, the forbidden magic.

"Hey you! Stop right there! Get away from that!" A voice rang out from behind me, startling the hell out of me. I glanced back and saw the boy, he stood by the entrance and waved at the smoke, gleaming crimson eyes were fixated on me and I could see a hint of anger and alarm in them. He looked a lot taller standing up, a good foot taller than me. Even so, I couldn't afford to be intimidated now, the magic was an arms length away from me.

Ignoring him, I reached for the book, and opened it.

"No!" The boy's voice was drowned out by a sudden roar that deafened me for a moment. Light burst out of the book and I took a step back, raising my arms over my head for protection as laughter filled the air. I don't know how it was possible or if I was hallucinating, but a transparent woman shot out of the book, hovering over us like a tower as she laughed.

When the light subsided, I had to blink several times to adjust my eyesight again. The woman in front stopped her laughter and eyed me over. Her white hair glistened in the air and red eyes pierced through me like a lance. There was something powerful about her. Her mere aura spelled trouble.

"Whats this? My savior is but a little girl?" She snickered at me and grinned, showing rows of sharp teeth. Was she a vampire too? A thought struck me, maybe she was the evil nasty vampire, and she was going to suck my blood! My blood turned cold and I stood frozen on the spot. What was she going to do to me? She chuckled, pale olive skin gleamed as a long pointed fingernail traced a pattern in the air. "No matter, now I can claim revenge on Alice!" She screeched. Light engulfed the room once again and she was gone. Just like that the creepy psycho lady vanished with nothing but the outstretched book on the floor to prove she was here in the first place.

Silence fell across the room once again and I could feel my heart beating wildly.

"This is bad...really bad...Alice...I couldn't protect the tome." A low soft voice echoed and I turned to see the boy looking down at the book with a defeated look.

"Uh...well that was weird." I said outloud to no one in particular.

The boy scowled at me, one red eye darkening, because the other was covered in perfect silver locks. He wasn't amused. "You, come with me." He instructed flatly. I frowned. Was he ordering ME around? Who did he think he was?!

Nevertheless, he left the entrance and I grabbed the book before heading out myself. He waited by the coffin he was resting on moments before. I stopped and stared at his back cautiously. The cape he wore reached all the way to his feet so he kinda looked like a shadow in the dim light, but somehow it made him look mysterious rather than scary.

He turned and stared at me dead in the eye. Now that I was closer, I could see his features more properly. He was sickly looking really, with high cheekbones and pale skin that was whiter than snow, but it had an odd beauty to it, it made him look eternal and flawless. Long spider-like fingers griped his belt as he leered at me. His red eye was full of conflicting emotions I couldn't read.

I took a step back and frowned. "W-what?" I snapped. What was he staring at?

His pale lips curled downwards and long lashes brushed against the bottom of his eye as he blinked before speaking. His voice was eloquent but a bit slurred from sleepiness. "That was the Eld Witch you set free just now, do you have any idea what you have done? The power you unleashed?" He scolded with a frown.

I glared at him. "What? Some dusty old hag in a book? Big deal! What is she gonna do? Go turn people into frogs?" I shot back defensively.

He took a step towards me and I took a step back, highly conscious of his height. If he got too close I was going to wack him with my umbrella. "That 'dusty old hag' is the Eld Witch, she holds powerful magic, not only is she seeking to kill Alice, but she will kill everything in the surface world too." He spoke out with a softer tone.

That struck me back into my senses. So she wasn't the vampire, she really was the Eld Witch from 1000 years ago...what had I done? And the surface world? Where exactly was I? For some reason my mind became foggy if I tried to think about it so I put it aside for the moment.

"Well it's not like I meant to! I only wanted to get this book! How was I supposed to know an evil witch lived in it?!" I exclaimed in frustration. I refused to take the blame for this. The book I read didn't say where she was sealed after all.

"That doesn't matter now, what's done is done, come with me." He instructed again, turning around in one swift motion. I stared at his back before following him reluctantly. Was he going to let me leave? I only hoped so.

The silver haired boy led me to the same hallway I came from, and opened a door that led to a different hallway. His legs were a lot longer so I had to semi jog to keep up. Silence enveloped us as we walked, the only sound being my clicking heels and his soft leather shoes stepping on the stone cold floor. For a moment, I thought I caught a glimpse of something from the corner of my eye and I turned sharply, holding the book in front of me protectively. Nothing, just my own shadow reflecting against the wall.

"Stupid..." I muttered to myself. Why was I so jumpy? It must have been the castle. Turning again to catch up to the boy I nearly screamed as a small figure appeared in front of me. It was a think scrawny boy with short blonde hair and a silly clown hat with bells on the ends. I couldn't see his face because he was wearing a circus-like mask.

"Are you lost?" He questioned with a voice that made me wonder if he was ten.

"Uuuh who are you?" I asked with a confused expression.

"Nevermind, here's a card, I scattered them all around the world." He said, ignoring my question.

I raised an eyebrow, taking the card from his outstretched hand and put it in my skirt pocket. It was a king of hearts card, the kind you play in casinos to gamble, but why was he giving it to me? "Uum ok why?" I asked again. This guy was a weirdo.

"No reason at all!" He said simply. I blinked. "Oookay."

"Hey! Hurry up! What's taking you so long?" I turned sharply at the sound of the silver haired boy. He was walking back with an unamused expression.

"Oh! Nothing this boy just..." I looked back to point at the clown boy, only to see he was gone. "Hey! Where did he go?!" I exclaimed in surprise.

"Where did who go?" The pale one was in front of me now.

"There was a small masked boy who was saying weird things!" I said in confusion.

"Huh? No one lives here but me, you probably imagined it, come one we are wasting time." He turned again and started heading back to the end of the hallway.

"Okay..." I muttered, looking back at the spot where the boy was one last time before following the pale one.

After a few minutes, we reached the end of the hallway. There was no door but there was a strange looking circle on the floor. He stepped around it and looked at me once more.

"Ok." He started. "Open that book." He mentioned to the tome in my hand.

I did as instructed and nearly stumbled back in surprise as wind swirled around me. Strange patterns and designs appeared on the old pages, decorating it in different colors.

"Whoa!" I shouted, keeping a firm grip on the book once the wind had subsided.

"Interesting." The boy smirked, red eye slanted slyly. It almost made him look like a predator. "Those runes are the ancient magic the witch used to destroy the surface world 1000 years ago, only Alice has been able to use it...but maybe..." he trailed off, red eye scanning me over.

I fought the temptation of covering myself. Maybe I should have worn something less revealing. "My name is Loue, and as you can see I am a vampire." He changed the subject.

"My name is Liddell." I spoke out softly. So he was the vampire. The old hag has lied yet again. Nasty vile thing was not what this guy was. More like pretty boy with sleeping problems.

"Well Liddell, I was supposed to be guarding the tome...so I am a bit at fault here." He said sadly. Eye downcast and lashes flashing for an instant.

I laughed at that. "Yeah! You were sleeping!"

His eye flickered up at me and pale cheeks reddened. He rose a hand up to his head as he spoke in embarrassment. "W-well, I have a condition..." he laughed softly at that. I thought he looked a lot better when he was embarrassed. The moody upset look didn't suit him at all.

"Right...well narcoleptic vampire, are you going to kill me and suck my blood?" I shot at him. I needed to know what he had in store for me.

"Hmm yes what to do with you...wait what?!" He blinked in surprise and shook his head vigorously, sending silver locks flying gracefully. "No...I don't like blood much, I mean only if i need it, actually my favorite food is tomatoes." He said with a reassuring grin.

I had to frown at that. "Huh?! Are you serious? What kind of vampire are you?" I muttered with a stare. This guy was weird. A tomato loving narcoleptic vampire...was he sure he wasn't just some weirdo who thought he was a vampire? But the pointy fangs that slightly showed when he talked convinced me otherwise. And he must have been 1000 years old himself. Yikes.

"Anyways, come with me, I will tell you more." He said again. He stepped into the circle and vanished.

Whoa...this place was full of whimsical stuff. Taking in a deep breath, I followed Loue's lead and stepped into the circle. Light filled my vision and I felt a warmth wash over me.

"There you go." Loue smiled at me as I opened my eyes. I was clutching the book and my umbrella a little too hard so I loosened up a bit.

I was in a darker room with smooth marble floor decorated in a card pattern. Spades, diomonds and hearts. It was pretty. It took me a while to realize I was in a ballroom. A hauntingly sweet melodic tune echoed faintly across the room. Like a piano being played in a funeral. It almost made me sleepy. No wonder Loue was narcoleptic.

"So where are we?" I asked in curiosity, walking towards him.

"This is the room between doors, look around." He swept his arm over me and I took in the sight of six different doors that stood standing in a circle around the room. It looked like a surrealism painting. Was this even real?

"Those doors are portals to the six kingdoms Alice has saved from the Eld Witch." Loue stated simply. "Since you were the one that released her, you must take responsibility and clean up this mess."

That made me gasp. Clean up my mess?! "Hey! I'm not doing it! Like I said I didn't know this was going to happen! I'm leaving!" I hissed, fed up with the tomato freak.

"You can try, but you're already stuck in this world." He said with the same creepy grin he wore in the hallway. I inched back, fear gripping me. This psycho couldn't keep me in here forever. There had to be a way out. I just had to look.

Turning around, I scaled the walls with my hands, feeling Loue's eyes on my back the entire time. He wasn't trying to stop me so maybe he was right...there was no way out.

Defeated, I turned back to him and saw him grin slyly. "Tired yet?" He teased jokingly. It made me want to smack him.

"T-take me back home!" I insisted.

"No, not until you agree to fix your mistake." He said bluntly.

I bit my lip and glared at him. This was going to turn into a nasty fight if he didn't comply. I was about to raise my umbrella, when a sudden noise stopped me.

The glass from one of the doors broke, sending shards of glass flying across the marble floor. A figure emerged from the opening, coughing and gasping for breath. Loue hurries over to him, cape flowing behind gracefully.

I followed suit, curious as to who could have broken through the door. When I stopped before the figure I was startled to see that he was made out of cookie. A gingerbread man was sobbing and choking on his own words as Loue tried to comfort him. Was that even possible. This castle was full of freaks!

"What happened soldier?" Loue pressed, holding on to the cookie mans shoulder.

I just stared as he wept. "T-the princess!" He choked out. "The kingdom has been poisoned by evil! A witch has put a curse on the soldiers of the candy kingdom and caged in princess Gretel! We tried to fight back! But the curse has changed everyone! Monsters wont let the princess free!" He cried out.

I realized, in horror that it must have been the Eld witch. I couldn't help but guiltily look down at my feet. "You need to rest, come, lets get you healed up." Loue spoke out, helping the gingerbread man up to his feet.

I followed behind them slowly, eyeing the cracks in the bread mans back. He must have been attacked back there, but where was Loue taking him exactly? As if on cue, Loue stopped in front of a lone tombstone that I had failed to notice before. It stood at the front of the room, in the middle of the doors. Loue was most likely blocking it earlier with his body. That must have been the reason why he didn't try to stop me from escaping.

"This tomb is the gateway to shadow town, there's an old inn there that is famous for its soothing health restoration, we should take him there." Loue stated at me.

Anger flashed in me for a moment, because now I knew that Loue was hiding the escape route from me the whole time, but it quickly subsided once the cookie man groaned in pain as the vampire helped him on the tombstone. "Ok..." I whispered.

I watched as they both vanished, a sight I was growing used to, and clutched my belongings against my chest as I stepped into the stone. It wasn't like the circle in the hallway, this Time no light was present. Instead, it was a clean fast feeling, like being in my school elevators. I felt cold air hit me the instant I stepped into it and I knew I was somewhere else.

The moon shone bright above me and I had to wrap my arms around myself to trap what little body heat I had. Blonde pigtails danced in the wind as I took in my surroundings. I was in some sort of cul-de-sac made out of cracked stone steps with dead black trees surrounding the square. Black shadows floated about, the only color they had was red gleaming eyes that looked like floating orbs in the darkness of the night. None of this looked familiar at all, the only thing I could familiarize with were the lit jack-o-lanterns that decorated the dead trees. Only they didn't talk. I was far away from home...

"Come on!" Loue called to me. I jumped and hurried over to him and the weeping cookie man. He seemed to know exactly where he was going as we passed some shacks and venders that called out to us, trying to sell odd items and dolls I had never seen before.

"Hey Loue! Where are we?" I asked while holding my book.

"Shadow town." Loue replied without looking back. "This place was lively back before the Eld witch turned against us, but now its a dead barren land filled with the ghosts of those that were killed in the war between the witch and Alice."

Alice...Loue seemed to know a lot about her, I have only heard of her in books and such, what was she like? I contemplated the possibility of Loue being her friend or something more. For some reason the thought didn't sit well with me...but I shook it off. Soon enough, we came across a large inn with the sign 'Demon Mouth' in the front. The door itself was shaped like a mouth.

We entered and I was grateful for the warmth washing over me. A black shadow stood behind a counter and Loue whispered something to it. Its red beady eyes swept across the three of us and it nodded, handing a key to Loue as he reached for it with a pale hand. I could see the white tucked sleeves of his shirt as it slid out from his cape.

"Come one." He said and I followed him through a small hallway that led to a door. Loue opened it with ease, and led the cookie man into the lone bed that stood at the corner of the room. The sobbing cookie slipped into the sheets slowly, clutching its face in sadness. It was so weird...watching a cookie cry.

Loue adjusted the lamp light above the bed to make it dim, and pulled over two chairs from the side of it for us to sit on against the wall. I sat, letting the book rest on my lap and my umbrella on the floor against my chair. Loue sat next to me, legs outstretched since he was taller, showing black pants and shiny black shoes over his cape.

"So what exactly happened? How did the Eld witch get into The kingdom in the first place? Its supposed to be protected by the sigil." Loue asked the cookie man once he calmed down.

"We don't know...it happened out of nowhere, one second we were standing guard at the palace and the next the skies became dark and foamy, the Eld witch appeared and attacked the kingdom! It was her no doubt about it! I recognized those eyes and that terrible laugh anywhere! She turned us against our own princess." The cookie choked back a sob and I squirmed uncomfortably in my seat. "The few of us that fought against the curse were attacked and left to die."

"This is bad..." Loue murmured. "The Eld witch is attacking the kingdoms, not just Alice."

"I'm sorry!" I blurted out. Tears were threatening to spill from my eyes. "I didn't mean to okay? Honest!" I choked out.

Loue eyed with me that crimson eye of his, I could see my reflection in his hue as he penetrated me with a stern stare. "If you really are sorry then take responsibility for it, this is your fault."

I frowned and blinked several times. I couldn't help it, I grabbed my umbrella and wacked him on the head, much to his astonishment. "Ow! What was that for?!" He exclaimed exasperated. His red eye was wide with surprise as he clutched his head.

"Why do you have to be so mean!" I shouted angrily.

He adjusted his cape shakily and scowled. "It's the truth, don't forget this is because of you."

I was about to throw myself at him when the cookie man interrupted. He was no longer crying, and his candy eyes were fixed on me. "Please...please save princess Geretel, please save the candy kingdom." He pleaded.

I could feel my face growing hot. What could I do? "Yes of course!" I blurted without thinking. "I'll save You all!" I mentally kicked myself for giving in so easily, but the look on the cookie mans face couldn't be ignored. "It's the least I could do.. besides, I want to be the greatest witch in the world, and for that to happen I have to be known!" I exclaimed enthusiastically, trying my best to conceal my obvious guilt.

"Finally!" Loue groaned, and slumped back on his chair.

"Thank you so much! I leave the rest in your hands!" The cookie man gushed happily as he relaxed under the sheets.

"Don't mention it!" I grinned. Yikes...what have I gotten myself into? Sighing deeply, I gathered my belongings.

"Well, lets go, I want to hurry it up alrea-" I stopped mid-sentence at the sight of Loue's sleeping face. Lips slightly parted and left eye closed, he was dead asleep.

"Are you serious?!" I groaned. Great, now I was stuck here with a crybaby and a vampire who slept every ten minutes. "Might as well rest too." I mumbled to myself as I let my body relax against the chair. My eyes did feel a little bit heavy, and in no time at all I was overcome with a dreamless sleep.

...

I have extended the story line a bit so it wont appear rushed, but the plot is the same, reviews will be welcome!


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

When I came to, my blonde bangs had come undone and sprawled across my face, tickling my nose. That must have been why I awoke because I hated the feeling of my hair on my skin. It made me think a bug was crawling on me.

I lifted a gloved hand to fix my bangs behind my ear and shifted inside the warmth of my blanket. The soft cloth beneath me was soft but at the angle I was at, it was making me strain my back.

"Uuuhhh." I groaned softly and clutched the fabric wearily. Was i in a bed? Looking down groggily, I saw a pair of legs instead of a mattress and I froze. Now that I was fully awake, I could tell the fabric I was wrapping around my upper torso was Loue's cape and not a blanket. I had fallen on his lap in my sleep.

"Gyaaa!" I screamed in embarrassment, throwing the cape off of me and sitting up.

He jolted awake at the sound, red eye wide as he looked around wildly. "Huh?! What is it?!" He spoke out in a slurred lazy tone.

"N-nothing!" I stammered, frowning and wiping my slightly damp mouth. I prayed to god I hadn't drooled on his pants.

He glanced at me, confused, then stretched. "Oops I must have fallen asleep." He said jokingly, mouth tilted up in a grin. I caught a glimpse of his pointed teeth. Did he ever accidentally bite himself with those while eating?

I rolled my eyes at this, and stretched myself. The angle I slept in made my back ache a bit. "Where's cookie guy?" I asked outloud, purple eyes scanning the empty bed. The light was still on, but he was missing.

Loue's eye shot towards the bed too, and he sat up. "Probably outside, lets go see." He said.

I nodded in agreement and picked the book up, along with my umbrella. Following Loue quickly, I inwardly groaned at the pain of keeping up with him. He was too fast. I needed to have a chat with him about that. 'Small legs can't compare to long ones' I thought to myself as we headed out of the inns doorway. I was completely shocked to see that it was still night, the moon shone in the sky as bright as yesterday.

"Hey! Shouldn't it be morning?" I called over to Loue. It was like nothing had changed. The same shadows hung around every corner just like the last time I saw them.

Loue shot me a questioning glance, looking down at my form. "Huh? Sunlight doesn't reach the underworld." He stated bluntly.

"Oh." Was all I could say. At least I knew where I was now, the world that the book talked about. A place where darkness and decay was all there was, the place the Eld witch came from. How had Babayaga managed to bring me here?

"Hey there he is!" Loue's voice snapped me out of my thoughts and I followed him quickly as he made his way to the edge of the inn. Cookie man stood there, and a smile graced his face at the sight of us approaching.

"Ah! Loue, girl, I wanted to give you my thanks for helping me out, I feel as good as new now! Please, do save the princess, I fear for her safety!" The cookie man pleaded again. His back was healed from any cracks now, but the emotional pain was still present on his face.

"Don't worry! I'll do my best." I chirped in an attempt to cheer him up. "After all, I don't wonna get lots of people killed cos of me." I muttered with a small pout.

"Thank you!" Cookie man gushed again.

I nodded and turned to Loue, gazing into his red eye. "Lets go!" I exclaimed. He smiled down at me and followed me for once.

Heels clicked against the stone floor as I danced about. I had no idea why I was so happy, but I felt like a million bucks. Maybe it was because now I had a chance to prove myself...to be...

"Hey Liddell, whats that on your side?" Loue asked in curiosity. He pointed down towards my belt and I followed his gaze. He meant my doll.

"Oh this? Its just a tauth doll, her name is Dayna, they're popular good luck charms back in my school." I muttered. I kept Dayna attached to my thin belt everyday for that reason.

"Interesting, may I see?" He asked politely.

I shrugged and unlatched her, handing the cat doll to him. He held it with his pale hands delicately as if she might break, which was odd to me. Why was he so interested in a tauth doll? Maybe he liked cats? He stroked it and turned it over, handing it back to me. I took it back carefully and latched it back onto my belt.

"I don't know how they work in your world, but down here, those dolls are powerful and magical, take care of it, I can sense a particular aura about that one, it will help you in our quest." He exclaimed.

My eyebrows rose in surprise. "Really?"

He nodded. "Yes, I have one of my own too back at my castle, though I don't need it much."

"Wooow." I said in amazement. Who knew these dolls were precious here? Back at home, they were merely a fad. I wanted to ask Loue if he could show me his, if I could fight him with the dolls, but somehow it seemed childish. Besides, he could squash me like a bug, he was twice my size, and not even human.

"Coming? You keep dazing off." Loue called to me, snapping me out of my thoughts once again. He was already at the end of the road, there the tombstones lay.

"Coming!" I shouted, running to him quickly with book and umbrella in hand.

He waited for me patiently before stepping into the tombstone. I didn't hesitate to step in after, feeling myself briefly levitate before the familiar melodic tune of the ballroom filled my ears.

I was back in the fancy ballroom again, with the pretty violet color that reminded me of my eyes.

"The sigil to Rem Sacchras won't be needed since the door is already open, we can start with that in mind." Loue's voice echoed across the room.

I turned to see him standing in front of the tombstone again. "Rem Sacchras?" I asked questioningly.

Loue nodded. "The candy kingdom that princes Gretel rules, that's where we should head first."

Even in the dim light, Loue's hair was vibrant and he looked like a shadow himself, standing so still covered in that dark cape of his. "Hmmm a kingdom made of candy? Whoa can I eat some of the stuff?" I was already getting excited.

"Not a good idea...remember, this is all your fault, if you forget that then...ouch! Stop hitting me!" His monotone mellow voice turned shrill as I stepped up to the pale vampire and wacked him again.

I grit my teeth as he cowered defensively, holding his head with snow white hands. "Stop bringing that up! Don't you think I know that? Jeez..." I fumed as I stalked around him to walk towards the door the cookie man broke out of.

"Ah, wait! Don't leave yet!" He called to me, reaching to grip my small shoulder. I tensed, my back going rigid at the icy touch. He was really cold, as cold as ice.

Slapping his hand away, I turned and pouted, meeting his stare. I could see he was trying hard to be understanding and apologetic because his eye softened and he let out a sigh.

"What?" I murmured, averting my gaze.

"How do you intend to kill all those monsters that the curse created?" He spoke with a lighter tone.

I shrugged, then a thought came to mind. With an innocent smile, I spoke, "By using you as a human shield!"

He didn't laugh, his blank look was stone solid as an eyebrow scrunched down. "Um...no. how about I give you some advice instead? See that book you are holding? Those runes are usable, you can use them at your command if you open a particular page and do the right incantation with your hand, kinda like how the Eld witch did it, those runes have different elements too, and your doll will help should we run into trouble as well."

Looking down at the book I held, my eyes gleamed with excitement. "Really! I get to use the magic! So cool!"

Loue nodded and walked ahead of me slowly. I followed and watched as he stopped in front of the broken mirror. The shards of glass skidded around with my heels stepping against them. Just how had the cookie man broken through anyway? How did this thing work? Because now that the mirror was broken, there was nothing but darkness. I was expecting an actual door or something, since thats what Loue called these things.

"Are we going to step through?" I asked uncertainly, remembering the little attention I gave to the candy decorated frame since I was so distracted by the cookie man earlier.

"Yes, we can go together." Loue responded encouragingly.

"You're coming with me?" I asked with a gasp.

He nodded, averting his gaze as he looked away. "Half of this is my fault, so its only fair that I help you, I can act as your guide."

"Okay!" I said with a huge grin. I was tremendously relieved. I was dreading the idea of going alone, especially to a place I wasn't familiar with. And although I didn't know Loue much, I was comfortable being with him. I couldn't quite place why, but he was a harmless vampire. That was reason enough.

Loue stepped in first, and I watched as his cloaked body was swallowed up by the darkness that swirled in the broken mirror. I gulped, held my umbrella and book tightly, and dived in after him. I wasn't prepared for what came next. This wasn't like the circle in the hallway or the tombstone. I literally felt like I was falling to my death. My mouth was opened, but no scream came, until a blinding light hit me like a ton of bricks. The sensation of falling subsided almost as quickly as it had come and all was calm again. The only thing startling me was a freezing hand that held my arm gently.

"Liddell?" Loue's soft voice made me open my eyes. He stood in front of me with a worried expression, small pale nose wrinkled in distaste.

"I'm fine." I assured, looking around me. "Whoaaa everything is made of candy!" I exclaimed in awe. My heart was still beating fast from the sudden fall, but my attention was now drawn to the delicious looking marshmellows and cookie breads around me. The trees were made of strawberries with chocolate sprawled on them. Candy cane lanterns hung on the sides of the pink cookie road we stood on. My mouth watered at the smell and sight of the sweets.

"Uuugh." Loue moaned as he held his hand over his nose. "These sappy smells are making me dizzy, I don't know if I can make it." He muttered while making a face.

I watched him carefully. His sense of smell must be greater than mine...that or he hated sweets. "Oh come on! No turning back now! Lead the way!" I chirped, sniffing the air cheerfully.

"Fine..." Loue groaned, walking behind me with an unhappy face, pinching his nose for dear life. I kept my small pace ahead of him, swinging my umbrella as I did so and held the book in my other hand. This place was vast, and had a lot of sweets around. I wanted so badly to eat something, but what Loue said back there was true...besides, it probably wasn't safe since the nasty old witch cursed it.

"Hey Loue! Is that a giant cloud over there?" I asked curiously, pointing at a big white lump a few yards away.

"I'm not sure, it looks like an egg to me."

I looked up, because thats where his voice was coming from, and it sounded funny too, totally not soft and Loue-like. And I soon knew why. It was because it was a bat talking, hoovering above me like a fly over a cake.

"Eehh?" I muttered, stepping back. "Loue? Why are you a bat?" I spoke out in confusion.

"Oh uh, I have a lot of enemies in some of these worlds..so...its best that I keep a low profile, plus...in this form I can't smell the disgusting sugar that's coating this place." The bat, or Loue said as it flew around, wings fluttering like a butterfly.

"Okay...that makes sense." I murmured. It was true that bats had poor sense of smell, but I honestly didn't think he could turn into one. I shouldn't have been surprised though, with Loue being a vampire and all.

"We should go take a look at it, doesn't it look the least bit suspicious to you?" I probed, looking up at my flying companion. I fought the temptation to grab him in midair. His form was just begging to be petted, even if bats weren't very cute, he still had fur.

"Yeah, lets go." He agreed from above. That brought a smile to my lips. Loue was very likeable when he agreed.

Well that settled it. Platform heels made the cookie bread crunch softly beneath my feet as I smoothed out my stockings while I walked. Blonde pigtails Bounced and I thought of my whole situation in the short time I had been here. It felt surreal, but it must have been real...but questioning it made my head feel unpleasant and throb with slight pain. So I had to subdue my thoughts with visuals of what was to come. What was going to happen once I encountered the Eld witch? Surely I was no match for her...I was just a young witch in training, she was some ancient badass who was out for blood. Just the thought of fighting her made me shiver. And I might even be able to meet Alice. The one that was so famously talked about. My heart yearned for her, it was unmistakable, like a powerful undertow pulling me towards something I knew, but it was absurd. I didn't know Alice, maybe I was drawn to her name because I wanted to be her. Big and as powerful as the Eld witch.

"Check it out Liddell, its not a cloud or an egg, its a giant ice cream scoop...gross." I could practically hear Loue gagging.

"Yum!" I licked my lips as I sprinted over to the big white blob that stood there a few feet away. Loue didn't protest and followed me easily. I could never understand his distaste for sweets. But if he liked tomatoes then he must like bitter tart flavors over the sweet sugary honey goodness I fancied.

I had to stop once I was close enough to feel the cold because there were two cookie men similar to the sobbing bread back in shadow town. They stood facing each other, muttering incoherent words between each other in front of the giant scoop of ice cream.

"Do you think they might know where the princess is?" I asked Loue in a hushed voice to avoid being overheard.

"I'm not sure, it wouldn't hurt asking." Loue replied hesitantly.

"Right." I murmured, inching closer to the two men. I had to wrap my arms around myself. The cold from the ice cream was getting to me. Before I could even speak a word, the left cookie man turned sharply towards me, and frowned.

"What? What do you want? Go away! I'm not telling you where the bomb to blow the marshmellow up is hidden!" He growled. I was taken aback by his attitude.

"Hey! Shut up!." The other cookie man shouted to his partner. The latter quickly turned away, ignoring me again while mumbling something under his breath.

"Humph!" I stomped my heel and turned sharply to walk away, Loue fluttering behind me. "Who does he think he is?!" I exclaimed loudly once I was out of earshot.

"They are probably intoxicated by the curse, the residents of this kingdom are usually friendly and happy." Loue explained above me.

"Is that so?" I said with squinted eyes. It still made me mad that he blew me off so easily but I guess Loue was right.

"Careful, there's another one over there...although he doesn't look half as crazy as the other two." Loue spoke out in warning. My eyes danced around the vast open space of cookie that was slowly narrowing down into a smaller road. There, by a lit lantern, another cookie man stood against the pole.

"Oh no...I am going to avoid every cookie I see!" I growled, the anger from my last encounter returning. I speed walked around that path so that I was far away from the resident, and nearly slipped on something slippery.

"Ahhh!" My knees buckled and it was too late to catch myself. I fell flat on my butt.

"Are you okay?!" Loue was directly in front of my face now, beady red eyes gleaming as his little black wings flapped to keep him in the air.

"Y-yeah..." I spoke out softly, looking down at the stuff I had slipped on. It looked like white frosting. Why was this stuff in the middle of the road?

My eyes followed the trail of the stuff leading forward into a cave-like entrance. "Great, there are more." I grumbled unhappily. I was so not in the mood for this. And there was frosting all over my heel too.

"Just be careful and try to step around it." Loue advised. "If we get through that entrance there might be some clues as to where the castle is located."

Easy for him to say, he could just fly through everything. "Don't you know your way around here?" I pressed as I got up to continue, jumping around the slippery sweet carefully in a tip-toe manner.

"Uuh, not really, a lot has changed since I was last awake." Loue said quickly. There was a hint of embarrassment in his voice. I was about to make a remark about him sleeping through 1000 years but I stopped myself. If the roses were fresh that must have meant he wasn't asleep for that long. I didn't pursue the subject further anyway.

"What's this..." I mumbled, eyeing my new obstacle. There were oval shaped grey stones embedded on the pink cookie floor, blocking my way to the gateway that was only a few feet away.

"Looks like dried jelly beans, you'll have to crack them somehow." Loue said.

My eyebrow twitched in annoyance. Of course I did...because my lazy companion found it too hard to help me. Sighing heavily, I slammed my heel against the candy. Nothing, all I accomplished was making holes in it. It wasn't like I could just step over it, because the thing was huge. Then an idea struck me. My umbrella had a nice pointy end.

Raising said object, I struck it against the offending sweet, repeating the action three times before the thing came crumbling down. Loue was right about it being dry.

"Good, now lets keep going." Loue spoke evenly as he flew past me and into the entrance.

I stepped beneath the crushed pieces of candy, making a rough sound with my heels as I followed. It was like some sort of maze inside, with purple walls and candy cane designs. It was also a bit dark, but I could still see clearly. Loue must have been having no problem with vision.

My heels clicked against the purple marble floor as I walked, it was odd really. I expected an actual cave not a hotel looking bundle of hallways that twisted this way and that. But this was a candy kingdom, anything was possible.

"Anything..." I smirked, mouth drooling as thoughts of eating endless supplies of cake and chocolate filled my thoughts.

"What?" Loue called out.

"Nothing." I called back.

We continued on, turning a corner and stopping at a dead end. "Oh please don't tell me its going to be like this further on." I whined, my throat making my voice sound high pitched.

"Don't worry, we just have to keep moving." Loue encouraged with a playful tone.

"Yeah yeah." I mumbled, and was about to turn around when something caught my eye. It looked like something white was on the floor. I inched closer to it.

"Careful Liddell..." Loue's warning went in through one ear and came out through the next as I bent to pick it up. It looked like a card...similar to the one the boy gave me.

Just as I was about to touch it, something flew past me, sending a stinging pain in my upper right shoulder. "Ouch!" I hissed, clutching it. Whatever it was that flew by had giving me some sort of paper cut, and it hurt!

I didn't have much time to react as the card somehow expanded, giving it an odd look. It kind of looked alive. "What do I do?! I shouted, startled out of my mind because now the card was throwing those little paper things that had cut me before, and I was trying my best to dodge them for dear life. With the heels and all, I looked like some silly go go dancer. I was going to strangle Loue if he didn't help me this time.

"Use the book!" Loue exclaimed over me.

I did as was told and opened a random page, not bothering to be picky. It was a blue rune that looked easy enough. Copying the rune in the air with my finger, I lifted the book and almost flew back several feet. The huge water pulse that was flying out of the book was too much for my petite body to take and my legs weren't braced for the impact. How was I supposed to know that was going to happen anyway?

Even so, it had somewhat worked, the card was struggling over the water and the attacks were washed away. Once the pulse ran out I had to close the book. Much to my horror, the damned card was getting up from the slippery floor. "Its still alive!" I shrieked.

I was about to open another page quickly when something amazing happened, something unfathomable and cool that my jaw dropped at the mere sight. My tauth doll, Dayna had grown at least four inches taller and glowed a bright red aura that it threw at the card. The attack was a lot more effective than the rune, because the card crumbled to the ground in defeat and shrinked, giving it an inanimate look again.

"Whoa! Dayna saved my life!" I shouted in glee with a relieved gesture. I was kissing my tauth doll in gratitude like crazy. Loue was right, these dolls were powerful here.

"Congrats on using the rune, remember some are more effective against monsters than others...but..." Loue's voice drifted off as his little red eyes stayed at the card on the floor. "That's not a monster from around here...i'm not sure why it attacked, but it looks harmless now."

I nodded in agreement. It was rather strange but he was right, it looked just like an ordinary card now. So I picked it up an examined it. It was a two of hearts, another gambling card. It was still a bit wet from my rune but a few flaps made it a bit more dry. I placed it inside my skirt pocket and moved on, following the bat that was already leaving towards another corner.

This hallway was a few more feet strait so I didn't have to worry about no more dead ends with animated cards attacking me. Loue and I walked this piece in silence. I took the time to examine my wound on my shoulder. It wasn't very big...and not very deep, but I could feel the unpleasant sting. Paper cuts, although small, were the worst.

I looked up when the sound of Loue's fluttering wings stopped. We reached the end of the hallway and there was a space to our left. It was covered in that slippery frosting stuff but beyond it lay some sort of chest.

"Look!" I shouted, pointing at it.

"Looks like a treasure chest, lets check it out." Loue exclaimed. "But lets be cautious, we don't know when a monster will pop out."

"Uh-huh." I muttered, trying to steer the frosting away with my umbrella. It was annoying but effective. I had no trouble getting through it at all, and I wasted no time in rushing to the chest. My heart beat against my chest as I bent to open it. It was a key...a chocolate key. My mouth watered as I held it in my gloved hands and I just couldn't help it. I brought it to my mouth for a bite.

"Liddell wait!" Loue shouted, nearly making me jump out of my skin.

"What?" I snapped, looking up at the bat that halted me. "You want some too."

"No...we might need that key for something, so lets not eat it..." he said in a low tone. I had to pout at that. Loue was no fun at all...but he could be right.

"Fine! Fiiiine, jeez..." I proclaimed with a sour face.

"Thank you..." Loue said with what I thought was relief.

"You're so boring Loue." I said bluntly. "Don't you ever have any fun?"

"Not in these circumstances." The bat replied in a stoic tone. I sighed at that. I guess I wasn't going to hear what I wanted from him. But it was still good to have him around. Without Loue, I wasn't sure what I would have done in the presence of the strange card.

We turned another corner to the hallway we took and I paused. There was another chest in this dead end too. "Look there! Another chocolate key? Why are there chests here anyway?" I asked curiously, stepping over to the object quickly. The sound of my heels clicking against the floor echoed, and the sound drifted off as I bent on my knees to open the thing.

"Who knows? Probably where the residents hide things? I'm never out to the kingdoms so I'm not up to date on whats new." Loue's voice echoed as well.

"Oh." I was surprised to see that it wasn't a key, but a tauth doll. It was similar to Dayna's size but different in that it had green spiky hair with peach skin. It was human shaped. "What's a tauth doll doing here?" I asked outloud.

"It was probably abandoned, this one has a healing magic, it would be a good idea to take it." Loue probed with equal curiosity to mine.

"Really?" I exclaimed with a shiver. The cool room was starting to make me cold, and made my papercut sting. Loue sure knew a lot about tauth dolls, he was handy after all. "Do you think it can heal my wound?"

"It should, if it cant then I could fix it for you if its bothering you too much." Loue offered. The thought made me pause, and I considered it.

"I can try the doll first." I said with a smirk, drawing the doll nearer to me. Loue was right yet again. The doll glowed green and I felt energy seeping into me, cleansing my shoulder cut.

"Whoa...this one is cool." I gushed as the green light subsided. Its job was finished. "I'm taking him with me! And I'll name him Balloy!"

"Balloy? Odd name." Loue said with a huff.

"I like it." Was my reply as I latched the doll into my belt next to Dayna. It dangled as I walked ahead, heels sending short quick echoes that bounced off the walls like rubber balls. Blonde sunkissed pig tails bounce up and down slightly above my skinny shoulders. The hallways seem endless, and there were so many turns...with lots of that frosting stuff sticking to the floors.

It was easy enough to walk through, however. Since there was so much empty space.

"Hey look." I pointed to a corridor that led to a brown gate once we made another turn. It was a few ways away from an empty space that was so vast, it made me feel slightly vulnerable walking through it. But I had to do it either way, there was no other hallway that I could take to avoid it, so I walked towards it in a steady pace. My feet were beginning to ache from the heels. I was going to have to tell Loue I needed a rest soon.

The open space was eerily silent once I got there. And I could see that the door was covered in chocolate designs. I wanted to take a bite off of it. "I think the key is used for this door." Loue mentioned above me.

"Yeah, it's the same design too." I said while taking the brown object out of my skirt pocket. I found the hole to the door and pushed the key in, turning it and making a loud clicking sound as the gate opened. "Whoa, that was easy." I grinned, taking the key out of the hole to place it back inside my skirt.

The blasting light made me squint once we crossed the gate to the outside. The same blue sky was present, and I could tell we were in some sort of small mountain judging from the distance of the trees. The ledge tilted in a swirl so I had to follow it cautiously. This was dangerous ground for someone with heels after all. Suppose Loue would trade shoes?

'Not likely' I thought. I stopped once the trail ended and came across a giant statue of sorts. It was a really tall gingerbread man with a sad face, he stood on top of this thing like a golden pedestal or something. "Hey Loue, what's this for?" I asked curiously, slowly trailing gloved fingers along the cookie leg. It was hard to the touch but smelled delicious.

"It must be here for a reason, but i'm not too sure, looks like its missing something doesn't it?" He pointed out.

I frowned, backing up to take a good look at it. "Yeah...yeah it does, maybe its something he was holding?" I muttered, cocking my head to the side. My bow choker nearly choked me with the action, no pun intended. I kept forgetting I had it on, and it was difficult to throw my head back or move my neck at an odd angle when I did.

"Don't know but looks like it, we'll have to backtrack to a different route since this is a dead end." He exclaimed.

I nodded. It seemed like the best option. I was about to turn when a flash of yellow caught my eye. There, behind the statue at the end of the road, was a funny looking man with horns adorning his head. His eyes were shut peacefully but I knew he was fully aware of me because his head was turned in my direction, and he was smiling.

"Hello." he called in a whismical soft voice. "do you want to hear the story of tauth the doll?"

I blinked at the strange man. A story? He wanted to tell a story about a tauth doll? Without thinking, I nodded my head in an uncertain manner and he began.

"Behind the sweet scent lies great bitterness, my name is Dodo, I travel the world as a cursed being, please, hear my tale. The night is long and we have ample time, the story of tauth the doll."

I couldn't fully understand what the man was saying because Loue's voice interrupted the trance the horned man had me under. "Liddell hurry up!" He spoke out from the other side of the trail. He was probably waiting by the entrance we came from.

"Coming!" I yelled back, glancing at the strange man before heading back. My vampire companion was already making his way back inside the gates. I followed him quickly, feet screaming for a break.

"Jeez can't you wait?" I complained once we were back in the empty space of the cave like room. "I was in the middle of something!"

Loue didn't seem fazed by my grouchy snapping. He was already getting used to it most likely. "We can't just fool around when we feel like it, remember this is-"

"My fault and I must take responsibility, blah blah yeah I get it, quit reminding me or I will swing at you from down here." I warned.

He must have taken me seriously because he flew further away to gain some distance as we walked through a different corridor. We walked in silence for a while as the hallways stretched on. My feet were slipping occasionally and I scowled, hating that I brought heels rather than normal shoes. The hallways were giving me a slight headache too. I hated mazes,they made me feel trapped. And thats exactly how I was feeling now, trapped. The silence was deafening and I instantly regretted threatening Loue. Now he was shying away from me when I needed to talk. Well I could always coax him back to me. I racked my brain for possibilities on how to strike up a conversation. I didn't need to be the first to speak though, because seemingly out of no where Loue's voice rang in my ears just as a shadow leaped across the floor and into me.

It was too fast for me to dodge, and I was thrown back aggressively, hitting the floor with a loud thud. The creature leaped, securing itself between me and Loue. When I scrambled up frantically with the book, I saw that it was a cat, but it didn't look ordinary, this cat had a strange toxic glow to its coat and there was another one beside it, two cats and a strange looking mushroom thing that looked like someone dumped glitter on its head stood before me.

"Loue!" I shouted, worried as hell at this many. I didn't know what things were lurking around here, and they were so short I could have easily brushed them off with my foot or simply scare them off. Only they weren't normal beings, the look in their eyes told me something was wrong and my instincts screamed at me to run away. So I did, or at least I tried. Heels clicked as I made an attempt to hop over them, but it failed miserably the mushroom thing spilled some sort of toxic dust once I got near and I coughed like crazy, eyes watering. A cat leaped on me again, drawing its claws against my bare and exposed stomach.

"Ahhh!" I screamed, dropping my book as I tried to swat it away.

"Don't run Liddell!" Loue shouted in his bat form. "Try to fight you can stand a chance with Dayna and the book!"

I bent to pick up said tomb, shaking slightly as I did so. The dust was making me feel funny. Opening the book, I chose a red rune, most likely fire, and I drew it quickly before aiming. Flames shot out of the pages in such a frenzy I was worried I might scorch my fingers just holding it. The flames engulfed the mushroom and it danced about, obviously in great discomfort. Dayna and Baldoy glowed red and green as they each sent an aura attack at each cat. They were hit, but kept their ground.

The mushroom being stood, and with distress, sent a splash of the stuff on me again. I was a bit prepared this time , because I held my nose in anticipation. Still, the dust was staying on my skin and it was burning. I wanted to plunge in a nice cold pool of water. The flames subsided and I turned another page. I needed something more effective.

Another cat leaped, claws scraped my cheek and I yelped, smacking it was my umbrella. These things were hard to kill! Why?! It was like they were enhanced by something. 'Duh the curse!' I mentally shouted. The dust was getting to me and I could feel myself losing it. Loue was shouting again but his voice seemed to be a million miles away. Choosing another rune, a white one, I aimed it and drew. It was wind. Gushing waves of powerful air sent one cat teetering away as it screeched in fear. My hair was going wild over the rune and I tried hard to brace my legs to keep still. Just the other two left, I tried hard with all my might to sweep the wind to the other monsters but I just couldn't. I couldn't shoot at more than one target because trying to only resulted in my arms shaking crazily against the attack.

The dolls hit again. The monsters looked at least weaker this time, but it wasn't enough. More dust hit me and the remaining cat leaped right into me, knocking me down and making me drop the book, which made the spell evaporate without its holder. My head hit hard and I could feel the cat on top of me, biting down on my arm, which I held protectively over my face. 'This is it' I thought with panting breaths. 'I'm a goner."

"Liddell!" Loue's voice was barely noticeable over the loud beating of my heart. My rapid breaths seemed to be increasing with the strange effect the dust had on me and my temple was pounding. The cat snarled, biting down harder and I shut my eyes, waiting for its mushroom buddy to come to help finish me off, until the explosions sounded.

They weren't overly loud enough to burst my ears but it did make me jump in surprise. Lots of shooting grey and white sparks and orbs engulfed the monsters, making them shriek and erupt into nothingness in the midst of the aggressive magic. It was like nothing I had ever seen before, I knew that if I was hit with something like that, they would literally have to scrape bits of me off the floor. That's how strong this foreign magic was.

Cold pale hands were on me once the magic evaporated. Loue's red eye peered down at me as he brushed his hands over my temple. I took in a deep breath as I felt a soothing sensation run through the course of my entire small body. Was this...healing magic? Yes, this feeling was similar to the nurses healing back in my school but they couldn't possibly compete with Loue. His magic was 1000 times stronger and more potent. So much so that I wouldn't be surprised if he was the Eld witch in disguise.

"I'm sorry, I should have seen that coming." Loue muttered softly at me.

I stared back into that red orb of an eye he had. "I didn't know you can heal." I simply stated.

That made him chuckle. "Okay so iv'e held a few things back." He rose his hands once he was done and I sat up to look myself over. I had no gashes or wounds. The unpleasant feeling the mushroom dust gave me was completely gone too. I was as good as new.

"Well, that was a close call, good thing I was around, lets keep movin-oww!" Loue was caught off mid sentence by my sudden blow with my umbrella. He leaned back, clutching his head in confusion as he stared. "What was that for?" He whined.

I couldn't stop glaring holes in his face. "All this time you were that powerful, and you still made ME go save the princess and fix everything, here I am trying to get the hang of this thing, almost dying, while big powerful you watches while safely hanging back!" I shouted angrily in frustration. Loue could have easily done this all without batting an eye, with that amazing power he had!

He blinked,running a hand through his silver locks in embarrassment. " look, I know you are frustrated and tired...but this all happened because of you, I agreed to come because it was my fault partway, I was prepared to protect you...but I wanted to see how well you did with that magic." He admitted, averting his gaze.

I stared at him, softening my gaze. So he was testing me, for some reason , that didn't make me mad, but determined, I wanted to be a good witch after all, and Loue was only trying to help...I think. "Okay...I guess it makes sense, I mean, I need to master this thing if I want to be a perfect witch after all." I grinned while standing up. The vampire stared up at me with a questioning look, eye big and wide and disbelieving that I had gotten over myself so easily. "Next time I encounter a monster, I won't need your help vampire boy!" I exclaimed.

I could see him sigh in relief and he stood up as well, his tall frame hidden beneath his cape in a shadow-like fashion. "I'll take you up on that offer." He said jokingly.

"Thanks for the help anyway, it was impressive." I huffed noncholantly, as if it was nothing. He merely laughed, and we continued on to our adventure of heroism and rescue.

...

Authors note: yes my first reviewer! Thank you for reading, I will be sure to update soon! ^_^


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

"I think its about time we continued on."

My slightly swollen feet that once felt numb, were better again. I supposed Loue was right. We should hurry. But it felt so relaxing to sit on the cookie ground that I was reluctant to get up. Licking the last bit of tomato from my lips, I tossed the stem and sat up. Since I was hungry, Loue gave me the only bit of food he had...a tomato. I almost face palmed myself but anything was better than nothing. I would have to eat a real meal in a few more hours but this calmed my hunger somewhat for now.

"Alright, i'm tired of resting anyways." I smirked, picking up my umbrella and book.

Great, we are almost there I think, cmon lets not waste any more time." My vampire bat companion led the way as I continued to walk. It was odd. I knew we had been here in this particular world for long yet the sky didn' t change. It was still a bright blue. It was as if time was at a standstill here.

My eyes widened and shifted down when the soles of my heels no longer crunched against cookie, but something hard.

"Whoa! Hey look! Chocolate!" I shrieked. The floor had changed from cookie to large rows of milky chocolate that smelled fresh. Bending down, I caressed the floor carefully. Yes it was real. My heels were leaving tiny holes in some pieces. "Looks so good!" I drawled with shining purple eyes transfixed on the sweet.

"Don't eat it." Loue warned. "Look there is another entrance over here, lets go."

I shifted my eyes from the ground to where Loue was flying and he was right. There was another similar cave-like entrance.

"It better not be another maze." I muttered with a groan. Nevertheless I followed Loue inside. Not surprisingly, it was dark, but it was a lot warmer. It was spacious too, because there were no walls anywhere. Only oddly placed cookie breads scattered in front of me. I curiously walked towards the edge and peered down while sliding my blonde bangs behind my ear. There was water beneath the cookie breads. It was like a river of some sort with a purple tint.

"What is that?" I asked Loue, glancing at the bat that flew a bit above me.

"Looks like soda, but it looks toxic..." he murmured, deep in thought.

"I guess we are gonna have to cross these cookies to get across." I said with a hint of uncertainty gracing my voice. Were they even sturdy? I did not want to go tumbling down to smell like soda for the rest of the day. There were big macaroons sitting across the ends of the cookie but there were a lot to cross. I was just going to have to be careful.

Something pink shifted across my eye vision and I turned sharply to spot a pink cookie man dancing around in odd movements a few ways off by the entrance. How did I miss him before?

"Why is that guy moving around like that?" I asked Loue with a face. The cookie man looked drunk.

"The curse, but it might not hurt to approach him, maybe he has some useful information." Loue pressed. I shot him a leer. Was he nuts? What if the cookie was crazy and attacked me?

"Why don't you go?" I muttered as I crossed my arms over my chest.

Loue went silent for a moment before responding. "Uuh, no no I can't, I have enemies...you wont understand even if I tried to explain."

I rolled my eyes. "Excuses..." I muttered a bit too bitterly, making my way to the cookie man myself. What kind of shady things did Loue do to have enemies anyway? He looked like a harmless excuse for a 'nasty vile thing' to me.

Nevertheless, I stood in front of the pink cookie man, keeping a careful distance as I did so. I didn't want to be struck. "Um...hello, do you know the way to the kingdom?" I asked meekly.

I stared as he spoke out a bunch of nonsense about the river being cursed. "It's the color of her rage! Alice! My hatred for you seeps through this land like poison! A sacrifice that cannot be forgiven nor from my sister!" His odd dancing didn't stop for a second.

"Great...another crazy cookie, lets go." i mumbled to Loue.

The vampire followed behind me in silence. Was he brooding? I couldn't tell...not in his bat form anyway.

"Okay i'm going to cross these cookie breads." I spoke out once we were back at the edge of the river. Putting one foot on the crust, I lifted my body up carefully, stepping forward as slowly as a snail. Nothing was happening. The thing wasn't tilting unnaturally or breaking. It supported my weight like a real wooden bridge would. Confident, I walked the rest of it in a normal pace, my footsteps muffled by the soft surface. Once I made it to the macaroon, I stopped to wait for Loue as he followed above me. Lucky for him, he could just fly over these things.

"Well that was easy! Lets continue onwards! I yelled, not bothering to be careful with the next cookie bridges as I strode on them.

"Right!" Loue hollered after me.

We walked a bit more and crossed a few more cookie bridges until I noticed some light. An exit, finally! I picked up the pace and crossed it, the blinding light hit my sun kissed hair in contrast to the dark that inhibited the cave. This part of the kingdom was also covered in chocolate. Only the trees had changed. What was once strawberries were now giant red grapes hugging the branches.

"Eh,...another cookie...but this one looks normal."I claimed,while pointing to the green cookie man standing still by some of the grape trees.

"I don't think all of the residents were afflicted by the curse, but we don't know for sure..." loue whispered.

It didn't matter if we were reluctant to approach the cookie anyway, because he approached us. Walking with steady steps, he made his way over to us and I tensed, ready to strike if he did anything violent to us. But he didn't instead, he smiled warmly, white frosting tilting up to give off an air of friendliness.

"Hello there! Want to hear a story? Its a bit long but its relevant to the kingdom." He stated in an old scratchy voice. He was likely to be old.

"Sure." I said curiously. If it was about the kingdom then it was worth it. Loue kept a lot to himself.

"Liddell..." Loue whispered, but I ignored him, putting my full attention to the cookie man.

"Okay, long ago, to destroy the Eld Witch, Alice needed a powerful seal, to achieve getting this seal, she needed the help of another kingdom. The kingdom itself was ruled by an evil god and to appease this god Alice had to turn to drastic measures. She was desperate. So she committed a dreadful action. A sacrifice! It was the twin sister of the ruler of Rem Boreas. Alice felt guilty. After the original kingdom was destroyed Alice built this one and decorated it with sweets and candy in memory of her. Isn't that sweet of Alice? However, the bitterness of the sacrifice still remains in the ghost of the younger sister. Now we refuse to do any such sacrifices."

I stared in shock at the cookie man when he finished. Was he for real? Did this mean that Alice...killed someone? In denial, I turned to Loue for answers but saw that he was flying further away.

"Hey!" I shouted, muttering a goodbye to the cookie man before I chased after the vampire. He was fast, but not fast enough. I caught up to him in no time, and stood directly in front of him. He wasn't going to avoid me that easily. Frowning, I shouted. "What was that about?"

Loue didn't reply right away, but took his time to choose his words carefully. "This kingdom has a dark past Liddell, sugar and sweets can't erase what happened here a long time ago...although the anger towards Alice is strong, can it really be justified? What would you do in her position?"

My eyes softened and I looked down at my feet. He was right..."but it sounds cruel." I whispered. I wasn't here 1000 years ago, so I don't know what exactly happened. Yet now I sort of understood why he hid in the form of a bat. He must of had a helping hand in the...sacrifice. now I knew what he meant by having enemies. The hate was still here, timeless and unerasable.

"I know...you're a child, you have yet to understand why sometimes the unimaginable has to happen for the greater good." Was Loue's reply.

Blinking, I looked off into the far distance. For once, I didn't bother to wack him for calling me a child, because I knew he was right. Without saying anything more, I continued walking forward.

"You sound mysterious when you say that." I muttered in an attempt to change the mood. The more time I spent in this world the more I was beginning to understand Alice.

"Do i?" Loue asked, but I didn't answer the question. I had stopped in front of several grape trees to access which road to take. There were two, left and right. The chocolate was turning into a bright milky pink on both roads as well, giving it a cute look. I opted for the right road and walked around it, halting as I came across three cookie men.

The light tan cookie eyed me with a startled expression. "Ahh! A human! We may be made of candy but please don't eat us!" He begged, making me raise an eyebrow.

"I'm not going to eat you...why would I eat a living thing?" I muttered with a frown. This guy probably had a bad encounter in the past because he was still inching away from me even though I wasn't moving.

The green cookie turned, and took a step forward. "My brother is missing..." he murmured, making the other cookie nod.

"Don't worry kid, milles is a good guy, i'm sure he's fine." He assured the green cookie, rubbing its companions back softly. It looked rather weird considering they had no fingers.

I nearly screamed when I felt tiny claws land on my bear shoulder, but it was only Loue. "Liddell lets go, let's not waste time."

"Okay okay!" I hissed, turning to speedwalk away from the cookie men to avoid any further contact. Thankfully they let me go and Loue took to flying above me again.

"This place is so empty...where is everyone? Aren't there any buildings around here?" I murmured sourly as I continued on.

"Everyone lives in Gretels castle so there's really no need for buildings." Loue explained above.

"I see...look, that gap over there looks mysterious, lets go that way." I suggested, turning left and jogging towards a narrow road covered by trees. There was more of the annoying frosty goo so I had to step around carefully before making my way down the road. It seemed endless, until we came across stairs protruding from the ground.

"What the...why are stairs coming from the ground?!" I exclaimed in utter confusion, bending to peer down at them. It was dark down below so I couldn't see much, but there was the faintest glow of yellow.

"Want me to go in first?" Loue asked, flying near the opening. I nodded.

"Yes!" I was a bit ashamed of being scared, but then again, this kingdom was filled with monsters. It couldn't be helped.

"Alright, be careful, these are pretty steep." His voice echo'ed throughout the opening as he flew down.

Gulping, I made my way down carefully, platform heels clinking against the stairs with a loud tap. I was right about the yellow. It seemed the ground down below was the surface of one big pound cake. Not surprising in the least.

"Whoa..." my voice bounced around every wall once I made my way all the way down. Thankfully the crust of the cake was rock hard so my heels didn't stick to it when I walked to the center.

"What's this cute rock?" I asked out loud, running my fingers across the gleaming pink crystal that stood in the middle of the cake. "Is this the Eld witches?"

"Not sure what it is, but don't touch it just yet, it looks like it hasn't been disturbed in quite a while." Loue's soft voice spoke out.

"Yeah sure." I agreed, lifting my hand away from the pretty glow of the crystal. My eyes scanned the dark walls of this cave but I detected no exit. "Looks like this place is sealed in, wonder why this crystal was hidden in here, guess the stairs is the only option to go back."

"Possibly something precious to Gretel, yes lets head back." Loue flew closely behind me as I climbed the stairs up. The stairs were hidden as well, since this narrow road was barely even noticeable. It held my curiosity.

Once outside, we had to make out way out of the road again and head up past the vast sea of pink chocolate again.

"I'm still a bit hungry...Loue I need food." I complained, my tummy rumbling. I couldn't go on without eating.

"Ohh...hm okay, take some grapes...I think those are safe." Loue stated above me. My head turned towards the trees.

"Yeah, they're big so one will do, how can you go without eating." I muttered, making my way to the edge of a tree and tip toed to yank one off. It was hard, the grapes held on tightly to the branches so I had to really put in effort to pull while holding the book and my umbrella between my legs.

"I don't need to eat as often as a human." Loue said with a light tone. I yanked one last time and it came off, the impact almost sent me tumbling back but I kept my footing.

"Yum! It looks delicious, plus its ripe!" I shouted in glee, squeezing the berry and taking a big bite out of it. It was the size of a water melon so It was going to take some time. Face stuffed of the berry, I glanced at the bat that flew above and gave him a knowing look.

He sighed. "Okay okay...we can take another break but please hurry."

Smiling, I nodded and proceeded to sit down to eat the rest of the treat.

...

Loue had suggested we turn back when I was finished, much to my utter dismay. Why? Because he claimed he had seen an entrance back in the macaroon cave and thought that there was something important there.

So here I was, grumpy out of my mind and backtracking to find this so called entrance.

"I swear to god...if I find no such thing I'm going to strangle you." I warned with a leer.

Heels scraped against milky chocolate as my vampire companion followed cautiously. If he had seen another entrance then why didn't he just say so in the first place when we were already there? Darn it I was about to lose my mind.

"Sorry, But i keep thinking about it, it wont go away if we don't check it out Liddell." Loue reasoned.

My eyes rolled. So now we were backtracking just to ease his curiosity? Somehow that made me even more mad. But I was way too tired to argue further. Besides, the cave we were looking for came into view pretty quickly and I sprinted the rest of the way, spotting the green cookie man that told me the story of this place before.

I stepped inside and looked up at Loue with a glare. His red beady eyes were even more visible in the dark and seemed to glow and he flew around the macaroons. "Well?" I hissed, tapping my foot against the macaroon crust impatiently.

"This way." Loue exclaimed, flying north of the cave and making me follow behind. Unlike him, i couldn't fly so I had to cross the cookie bridges carefully to keep up.

After a few awkward turns I stopped in front of another entrance. "Well would you look at that." I muttered. "Thank the lucky stars you were right Loue!"

I told you...my eyesight is accurate in this form, lets go outside to see what's in there." He pressed, flying in before me.

"Yeah yeah!" I breathed. Loue had the stamina of a three year old. Where did he get all that energy from anyway?

Following him in, I was half expecting to be blinded by the suns rays, but I was surprised to see that we were in another cave instead. It was a lot brighter than the macaroon room but it was still closed in by rock and debris.

"Whoa, its like a passageway or something." I murmured to no one in particular.

"Hey you!"

I jumped and turned sharply to see an elderly cookie man walking my way. It seemed like he was standing in the middle of the passageway.

"Yes?" I looked up at him with distrust. Was he another crazy intoxicated cookie?

"Thank god...iv'e been looking for help all over the place and I have finally found it! Young lady there is an overflowing grape juice river up ahead but its too deep to travel there. I like to spend my time searching for treasures in that cave but ad you can see I cant. There is a cake you may be able to push around to block the flow of the river. Can you help me? I'm too weak to do it myself." The cookie man huffed and wheezed.

I sighed. I really was not in the mood to figure out some river puzzle but it looked like I had no choice. I had an image to protect after all. "Alright old man, i'll do as you say." I grumbled.

"Excellent! Thank you very much! And remember, there are two places where the flow will stop, best of luck!" He cheered.

I nodded. "No worries."

Stalking around him, I strode over to the darker entrance of another smaller cave. The ground was made of pancakes in this room. With delicious frosting covering the walls and green candy canes with cherries for lamps on the sides. I wanted to eat everything!

My heels stuck to the soft cushion ground so I had to bend to take them off and place them at the side of the exit. Clad in only black and purple knee high stockings, I walked over to the big cupcake that lay in the middle of the walkway.

"Hey Loue, whats this thing even doing here anyway?" I asked as I licked the side of the cupcake to taste the frosting. It was sweet and creamy.

"Don't know, let me fly up high to see where we should place it." He said as he flew up. I waited patiently, ripping a handful of bread from the cupcake and shoving it in my mouth quickly. I needed to chew it fast before he came back.

Gulping just in time, I licked my lips in satisfaction as he flew back down. "Okay I know where to put this, can you push it forward?" Loue exclaimed.

"I can try." Pressing my hands firmly against the cupcake, I pushed hard, gritting my teeth in the process. After a while of several tries I gave up. "I can't, this is just too heavy." I panted wearily.

My whole body frame jumped in surprise as Loue was engulfed by smoke. Coughing, I swatted at it with the book, making it clear away. Loue appeared in his original form. A single crimson orb bore down at me as he scanned the cupcake. It was strange seeing someone so pale. It was like he was sick or something, but oddly it suited him.

"Hmm...uugh these sappy smells are the worst." He moaned softly, squeezing his nose shut with long delicate fingers. "Alright I'm going to help you push this, if we work together it can be done faster." He stated, resting two porceline hands against the cupcake. So Loue was finally going to help with something. Awesome.

"Alright!" I shouted cheerfully, positioning myself beside him and resting my own hands against the object too.

"Ok lets push it forward now." Loue grit his teeth at the strain, showing pointy fangs. I pushed as well, and the cupcake moved. I knew most of the strength was coming from the albino, but I still tried to add more pressure to it.

It took a lot of tries just to get the damned thing across the cookie bridges. Why on earth did I agree to do this? Now I was regretting it...

"Are you sure you know where to drop this off?" I wheezed as he made another pass for a different bridge, pushing the cupcake downwards towards a gaping dent in the spongy pancake floor.

"Positive, have some faith in me Liddell." The vampire murmured warmly , flashing me a toothy grin.

"Yeah.. okay." I sighed,grunting as we gave a last push. The cupcake fell with a loud splash, making grape juice fly all over the place. Bending down on my knees, I peeked down to watch as the cupcake floated down into a small gap in the river, serving as a blockade for the flow. Slowly but surely, the river died out with nothing but puddles left.

I flipped my blonde bangs back with a gloved hand. "Haha! It worked! Now the cookie said another one right?"

A crimson eye scanned the room and a pale long finger pointed towards the end of another short bridge. "Over there, another cupcake, come on I know where we should throw it." Loue pressed.

"Alright!" I got up on my socked feet and followed him through the soft floor. Practically skipping in the process. Progress always made me feel giddy with energy , no matter what kind it was.

The two of us worked side by side together again to push the similar cupcake, although this one was slightly heavier.

"Is it me or did this one gain weight?"

"Cupcakes don't gain weight Liddell..."

"Loue..."

"Yes?"

We are standing on a giant pancake pushing a giant cupcake because a talking gingerbread man told us to."

"...so?"

"So cupcakes can gain weight if they want to."

"Okay..."

I almost laughed outloud at the funny face Loue was making. He no doubt thought I was crazy...but hey. My notions made somewhat sense. Or so I thought.

With a few more drags and pushes, we finally managed to throw the damned thing into another gaping dent of the edge of the pancake. It fell with a heavy splash, and in to time, this part of the river had lowered in depth too.

"Whoa! Loue look at the ground it looks so soggy!" I made a retching sound.

"Well yeah, it was covered in juice so of course it would, do you see that down below? Kinda looks like a candy cane." The albino muttered.

I followed his gaze and spotted it too, a green and white giant candy cane was lying on the soggy floor down below. "Lets go check it out!" I spoke out, following the trail of pancake leading down. I stepped down into the soggy mess but retreated by foot just as quickly.

"Yuck! Ew...its too soggy for my socks, Loue you will have to carry me." I tried not to sound like I was whining, but I couldn't help but make girly gestures at the feeling of the wet ground.

A sigh escaped his lips but it was soon replaced by an enthusiastic grin. Taking an arm out of his long cape, he scratched his head in an 'what am I to do' gesture.

"Alright alright."

He bent down to my level while resting on a knee to give me full access to his back. Without further hesitation, I draped a leg over his shoulder, and pulled myself up by using his head as leverage. I couldn't feel the albino's hair with my gloves on, but I imagined it to be soft and smooth because my fingers weren't getting tangled at all. Holding on tightly, I draped my other leg over his shoulder and criss crossed my feet over his chest in a firm vice-grip.

Loue was a lot bigger than I imagined. Because when he rose I nearly tipped back with the motion, and I had to smack my palms over his eyes to keep myself in balance.

"Ahhh! Liddell I can't see!" Loue hissed, holding my palms in an attempt to get them off.

"Sorry! I can't grab anything else!" I exclaimed, holding on for dear life.

"Well I can't move around if i'm blind..." he grumbled. He had opted for staying still now, instead of stumbling around.

"Okay..."I released my grip slightly, and grabbed hold of the vampires hair in two spiky pig tails high above his head, revealing his other blood red eye. Good thing he had long hair, because grabbing the neck would only result in me choking him.

"Really..." I could almost hear his eyebrow twitch.

I laughed out loud, unable to contain myself. "If I replaced my hands with kiddie scrunchies then you would totally look like a girl!"

"But I'm not a girl! Don't make fun of my hair..." the pale boy grunted,holding on to both of my lower legs with both lean hands.

"Sorry, couldn't help it, does it hurt?" I asked apologetically. I wasn't tugging on the hair or anything, but if he moved I had to hold on, which meant his hair was getting pulled from the scalp slightly.

"No not really, well lets get this over with." Loue muttered under his breath with both eyes closed. He moved forward. I held on, watching as his black dress shoes scrunched against the soggy floor that made up the bottom of the cave. He approached the candy cane slowly and we took a moment to study the thing.

"Hmmm looks tasty!" I breathed, resting my chin against the top of Loue's head playfully.

"You don't think...that this is what the giant gingerbread statue was holding do you?" Loue contemplated lowly.

I pouted, wondering if it could be. "It looks like it doesn't it? Same size and everything."

"If it is we ought to return in."

My mouth dropped open. "Are you serious?! We are backtracking again?!"

"We have to, that statue is precious to princess Gretel."

I groaned. Loue was so stubborn about morals! But...he did have a point about that, that statue really WAS precious to princess Gretel.

I giggled in mischief. "Sure okay, I'm up for it, plus maybe princess Gretel will reward me for putting it back!"

"Jeez..." loue huffed, but nevertheless bent slowly to pick the candycane up. He did it with such ease, it made me slightly envy his strength.

Turning slowly, he shifted the cane so that it wouldn't bump against anything while he made his way back up. Squishy sounds echoed as his feet slammed against the wet ground. I yanked on his hair slightly. Enough to grab his attention but not enough to hurt him.

"Stop! Look there what is that?" I exclaimed, my voice bouncing off the walls in a hauntingly shrill echo. I pointed a latex gloved hand at the object that lay before us a few feet away. It was hidden so deep in the corner that I almost missed it.

"A treasure chest?" Loue claimed softly. Although it sounded more like a question than a statement.

"Lets go see." I urged playfully.

He complied and walked forward a few steps before the object could be made out more clearly.

"Ah it is a treasure chest." I said cheerfully. "Open it! Maybe another key or doll is hidden inside?"

"Maybe..." Loue said, bending and placing a clean hand over the latch as he opened it.

I stared at the contents of the chest in confusion, purple eyes blinking at the card that lay in there, all by itself. "It's a three of hearts." Loue muttered, grabbing it and flipping it up at me. I took it carefully and examined it. It looked perfectly new, not used at all.

"Another card...why are cards in these things?" I questioned with a frown, putting the card away in my skirt pocket. If this kept up I was going to have a whole deck. Somehow that sounded funny.

"I honestly don't know, but it doesn't hurt to keep them, do you like a game of cards?"Loue asked casually as he stood up to make his way back towards the caves exit.

My eyes lowered, deep in thought as deja-vu hit me. I felt like I had heard that phrase somewhere before, but my brain refused to recollect any such memory. Was it in a dream then? Did I like a game of cards...

"Sometimes." Was my low reply.

Loue didn't say anything more as he bent to let me off. Regretfully, I hopped of his back once we were back up into the dry pancake ground. I had liked riding on top of Loue. It was like being on a horse. It was quite fun. I bent to retrieve the forsaken book and umbrella on the ground, and rose to follow Loue towards the exit.

"We should go get this back to the statue...I really want to hurry, these sappy smells are making me sick to my stomach." Loue whined, pinching his nose with one hand while he held the candy cane under his other arm. I blinked and nodded. So he wasn't transforming back into bat form for the sake of carrying the cane for me, as my hands were occupied already. Loue was kinda considerate. It made me rethink my view of him...but he was still a tomato-sucking dweeb.

Before we got out of the cave for good, I retrieved my platform heels to put on, gaining a bit of height as I walked up next to Loue after I did so.

"Alright lets go." Loue breathed with a pained expression. The sweets were killing him.

We left the cave through the exit in no time, and I grinned at the cookie man in truimpth.

"The cave is drained!" I babbled with a smirk. "You can go look for treasure now!"

But instead of gracing me with thanks he frowned in fury at Loue. "Ehh?! That's the cane of princess Gretel's mighty statue! Return it at once!" He barked, making Loue and I jump back in surprise.

"We are! Jeez!" I stammered angrily, stomping out of the passageway, making my pigtails bounce.

"Ah! Wait up Liddell!" Loue followed after me, keeping to my side as we made our way out of the macaroon infested whimsical cave.

...

Thats it for chapter 4, hope you enjoyed!


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